Lance Bass and Who Might be Gay, etc.; George Michael; Mowing; Walkway

I guess I would be remiss if I did not make some comment the news story "*N Sync singer Lance Bass says he is gay". I can certainly understand what a difficult decision this must have been for him.

First, because he is from Mississippi, and, alas, our state has difficulty understanding what homosexuality means. Here it's regarded as a lifestyle choice by perverts.

Second, he comes from a Southern Baptist background. Who are only slighly to the left of the Mormons and evangelicals in regarding being gay as an "abomination in the eyes of the Lord." (My quick snarky retort is "Get the fuck over it!")

I picked up on the comments in a number of journals last week about his appearance in Provincetown, MA with openly gay "The Amazing Race" winner Reichen Lehmkuhl. Certainly not a way to avoid publicity. I'd also seen the photos of Reichen with an Air Force tee, and another photo with Lance wearing the same tee.

Deciding to come out and when and where are personal decisions. Are not to come out. The country is still too homophobic.

Anytime someone well-known comes out, I wonder about the lists you encounter on the web of who is. I've actually comes across several lists at Notable Names Database (NNDB). One for those who are thought to be Gay; one, for Lesbian; one, for Bisexual; one for a category called Matter of Dispute.

A couple of surprises to me on the Gay category were Victor Bruno, Maurice Chevalier, Anthony Clark, John Glover (Lionel Luthor on "Smallville"), Derek Jacobi, Chuck Palahniuk (author of "Fight Club").

Oddly enough, no surprises on the Lesbian list, or else, I just don't recognize a lot of the names.

Bisexual finds: Horatio Alger, Joan Baez (I've seen this before, but I'm always surprised by it.), Nell Carter (Housekeeper on "Gimme A Break"), Van Johnson (actor 30s and 40s), John Maynard Keynes, Ethel Merman (Broadway performer), Paul Reubens.

The Matter of Dispute includes many of the folks you've heard rumors about: Clay Aiken, Anderson Cooper, Tom Cruise (No list would be complete without his name), Prince Edward, Anne Frank (of "Diary of Anne Frank," which I've read was censored by father for possible lesbian overtones), Steve Guttenberg ("Police Academy"; new to me), Princess Margaret (?????), Jim Nabors, Kevin Spacey, George Stephanopoulos. Also includes Eric Szmanda (Greg of "CSI"); I definitely have a crush on this boy.

"Pop singer George Michael this week was busted big-time by the voracious UK tabloid drones who captured a bizarre “tryst” between Michael and a non-descript “bloke” out for a 3 AM sexual liaison."

George, we love you dearly, but please try to stay out of the bushes, and stop flashing cute guys in the loo, and what is your problem with controlled substances.

My big physical achievement of the day was mowing part of the back yard. It still has a splotchy look. I need to do some more raking if it's ever going to look decent.

I still have this problem with the area between the carport and the north border. The least rain turns it into a muddy quagmire. Using the trimmer/trench digger, I've gotten the surface much more level. Remember that this was a couple of weeks of removing roots. So there's more work to be done.

I have a set of concrete blocks I was planning to use for a path. But I noticed the other day that they are of different heights. Some are around one-inch tall, but others are about one-and-a-half-inches. Another nuisance.

PAX!